When a child walks away, a mother’s heart doesn’t stop loving—it starts longing. 💔

This conversation with Erica Wiggenhorn reminded me that the “messy middle” isn’t wasted. God is still working, still waiting, still making a way back.If you’re carrying grief, shame, or righteous indignation, you’re not alone. 

The Father of Luke 15 shows us what love looks like when the story is still unfinished: watch, wait, pray, and keep holding the chair. Check out Erica's new book, Loving Your Wayward Child, in Shannon's Amazon Storefront HERE.

Recommended Resources

Are you "Kinda Judgy?" Free Quiz & Heart-Check

Shannon's Books

Erica Wiggenhorn

A national speaker with Aspire Women’s Events, Erica also speaks at women’s retreats, large conferences or her own kitchen table. Erica longs to bring Scriptural Truth and see lives transformed. Erica also serves on the Proverbs 31 Ministries writing and teaching team. An award-winning author with Moody Publishers, she wants people to discover delight in God’s Word as they become equipped with tools to read it with confidence.  Her latest project, Loving Your Wayward Child: A Christian Guide to Stand in Faith and Build Connection When Their Choices Break Your Heart will be released through Lifeway Christian Resources. For free tools to help you study the Bible visit ericawiggenhorn.com. You can also find her almost every day on Instagram where she shares Phoenix life with her best friend Jonathan, and their four children– two of which are human and the others furry and adorable.

Connect with Erica

Website

Instagram

Facebook

YouTube

NEW: Kinda Judgy

If you're tired of being judged—or even more tired of being so judgy, grab a copy of my new book with Moody Publishers: Kinda Judgy: Finding Mercy for Myself and Others in Six Stories of the Bible.

As we step into the stories of Noah, Rahab, Jonah and others, we'll not only get biblical clarity on judgment and mercy, we'll encounter the One who melts our judgy hearts with His lavish mercy.

Ready to lay down your gavel? Come find mercy for yourself and others in my new six week study with Moody Publishers.

More from the Judgy Series on Live Like It's True. 

Get the Free Judgy Heart Check and check out Shannon's book, Kinda Judgy. 

Hand back the gavel. There's a better Judge. 

Get the FREE Judgy Heart Check and check out Shannon's new book Kinda Judgy. 

Are you kinda judgy? Take the QUIZ. 

Check out Shannon's new book, Kinda Judgy. 

Learn more at ShannonPopkin.com.

 Shame says your sin is too great, but the cross reveals Jesus as the even greater savior. Lindsay Schott joins me on the Live Like It's True podcast for the final episode of the Judgy series. Come and take in the truth about your sin, displayed on a cross—and the more astonishing mercy of your loving Savior. 

Luke 23, The Crucifixion

Lindsay's upcoming book Trained to Teach

Free: Judgy Heart Check

More from the Judgy Series

Lindsay Schott

Lindsay Schott is the co-founder of Teach Equip and the co-author of an upcoming book, Trained to Teach. She has a passion for women to know the scripture and to experience deep transformation in relationship with Jesus and others.

She and her husband live in the Dallas area with their four children. You can see Lindsay's watercolor work at lindsayschott.com and see her creative journey on Instagram @lindsayschottwatercolor.

More from the Judgy Series on Live Like It's True. 

Get the Free Judgy Heart Check and check out Shannon's book, Kinda Judgy. 

Hand back the gavel. There's a better Judge. 

Learn more at ShannonPopkin.com.

What actually happened when Jesus died on a cross? Why was it so brutal? What was astonishing about his prayer? And what's the significance of him dying between two criminals?

Lindsay Schott is back for a two-part episode to close out our Judgy Series with a conversation about the cross and why it's both worse and better than you thought.

Luke 23, The Crucifixion

Lindsay's upcoming book Trained to Teach

Free: Judgy Heart Check

More from the Judgy Series

Lindsay Schott

Lindsay Schott is the co-founder of Teach Equip and the co-author of an upcoming book, Trained to Teach. She has a passion for women to know the scripture and to experience deep transformation in relationship with Jesus and others.

She and her husband live in the Dallas area with their four children. You can see Lindsay's watercolor work at lindsayschott.com and see her creative journey on Instagram @lindsayschottwatercolor.

More from the Judgy Series on Live Like It's True. 

Get the Free Judgy Heart Check and check out Shannon's book, Kinda Judgy. 

Hand back the gavel. There's a better Judge. 

Learn more at ShannonPopkin.com.

When you're tempted to judge your adult kids for their choices or behaviors, how should you respond? Michelle Nietert coaches us on how to lead with curiosity, not judgment. Get input for how to lean in with curiosity over that issue you're noticing with your young adult or teen.

Ignoring truth or enabling harmful behavior isn't the answer. Instead, how can you make room for God to work over time?

Recommended Resources including Michelle's book Strong and Secure

Free: Judgy Heart Check

The Judgy Series 

Michelle Nietert

Michelle Nietert is an author, speaker, Christian counselor and coach. She is the director of Community Counseling Associates. She’s also a follower of Christ, a wife, and a mother to two school-aged children who puts her mental health knowledge to use every day as she seeks to nurture a happy and healthy household.

Website

Instagram

Facebook

More from the Judgy Series on Live Like It's True. 

Get the Free Judgy Heart Check and check out Shannon's book, Kinda Judgy. 

Hand back the gavel. There's a better Judge. 

Get the FREE Judgy Heart Check and check out Shannon's new book Kinda Judgy. 

Learn more at ShannonPopkin.com.

Leith Hoggard joins Shannon on the Live Like It's True podcast to talk about the difference between disgust for sin and a heart full of contempt—and how this relates to being "kinda judgy." Leith brings her wisdom as a Bible teacher, Bible study author, and one-on-one counselor and shares how we can identify the contempt in our own hearts and apply the mercy we've first received from Christ.

Free: Leith's Bible Studies

Leith would love to share her Bible studies at no charge. Receive her gift for you here.

Free: Judgy Heart Check

Get five sets of probing questions and Bible verses that help you think through those judgy situations you're facing from a truth-saturated, humble perspective. Get the download here.

More from the Judgy Series

You can browse the episodes from the series on this page.

Leith Hoggard

Leith Hoggard and her husband live in Jonesboro, Arkansas, while their two daughters and their families live in Nashville, Tennessee. God has given Leith the privilege of writing and teaching Bible studies for women. Together with her husband, Leith also serves in lay counseling ministry, focusing on marriage, while much of her personal ministry is spent encouraging and walking alongside women.

Connect with Leith:

Facebook

More from the Judgy Series on Live Like It's True. 

Get the Free Judgy Heart Check and check out Shannon's book, Kinda Judgy. 

Hand back the gavel. There's a better Judge. 

Learn more at ShannonPopkin.com.

 Leith Hoggard joins Shannon on the Live Like It's True podcast to talk about the difference between disgust for sin and a heart full of contempt—and how this relates to being "kinda judgy." Leith brings her wisdom as a Bible teacher, Bible study author and one on one counselor and shares how we can identify the contempt in our own hearts and apply the mercy we've first received from Christ. 

Free: Leith's Bible Studies

Free: Judgy Heart Check

Leith Hoggard

Leith Hoggard lives with her husband in Jonesboro, Arkansas. They have two daughters who live with their families in Nashville, Tennessee. 

God has given Leith the privilege of writing and teaching Bible studies for women. She also serves in lay counseling ministry, focusing on marriage, while much of her personal ministry is spent encouraging and walking alongside women.

More from the Judgy Series on Live Like It's True. 

Get the Free Judgy Heart Check and check out Shannon's book, Kinda Judgy. 

Hand back the gavel. There's a better Judge. 

Learn more at ShannonPopkin.com.

Do you want to be free of body-shape judging? In this episode of the Live Like It's True Podcast, Shannon Popkin and Susie Renzema examine why we judge bodies—our own and others'—and how God's mercy frees us from shame, comparison, and criticism. Susie shares her personal journey through body image struggles, disordered eating, and spiritual renewal, along with practical ways to reflect Christ's mercy in everyday life.

 Susie Renzema is a Bible teacher who—two decades ago—rebuilt her faith on the bedrock of the Holy Scriptures. With her LetteringHisLove.com Scripture Journals, she invites you to slow down consider every word on the pages of your Bible. 

Susie's favorite person to converse with is her husband, Ron and she is often inspired by her adult children (including her son-in-law), who are the finest humans she knows. 

Website: https://www.letteringhislove.com/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lettering.his.love/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/lettering.his.love.bysusie

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More from the Judgy Series on Live Like It's True. 

Get the Free Judgy Heart Check and check out Shannon's book, Kinda Judgy. 

Hand back the gavel. There's a better Judge. 

Get the FREE Judgy Heart Check and check out Shannon's new book Kinda Judgy. 

Learn more at ShannonPopkin.com.

Have you ever wondered whether the church is a safe place for people with messy stories? Do some sins seem more forgivable than others?

Julie* joins Shannon to share the story behind the chapter featured in Kinda Judgy. She opens up about her unplanned pregnancy, the shame she experienced, the day she stood before her church to read a public confession, and how she eventually discovered that God's mercy was far greater than her guilt.

Together, they look at Jesus's encounters with Rahab and the sinful woman at Simon's table, discovering how His mercy transforms both those who feel judged and those who are tempted to judge.

*Not her real name. 

Kinda Judgy: Finding Mercy for Myself and Others in Six Stories of the Bible. 

Free: Judgy Heart Check

More from the Judgy Series

More from the Judgy Series on Live Like It's True. 

Get the Free Judgy Heart Check and check out Shannon's book, Kinda Judgy. 

Hand back the gavel. There's a better Judge. 

Learn more at ShannonPopkin.com.

Is there a situation in your life that just isn't right? Are you frustrated by the injustice of it all? Do you feel like God must be plugging His ears to your prayers?

Jesus told a story that shows how much our Judge loves our audacity—our chutzpah—our relentless asking. He doesn't just want polite prayers; He invites us to come boldly with our needs, doubts, and frustrations.

Bible Passage: Luke 18:1-8 - The Parable of the Persistent Widow

FREE: Take the Judgy Quiz

Connect with Hope Blanchard & Christine Gordon

Website

Instagram

Facebook

At His Feet

Each lesson in an At His Feet Study consists of four steps: reading the Scripture passage, answering observation questions, reading commentary about the passage, and answering application questions helping you apply the text to your life. Also included is a “focus verse” for memorization. Below are all of the studies available from At His Feet.

More from the Judgy Series on Live Like It's True. 

Get the Free Judgy Heart Check and check out Shannon's book, Kinda Judgy. 

Hand back the gavel. There's a better Judge. 

Get the FREE Judgy Heart Check and check out Shannon's new book Kinda Judgy. 

Learn more at ShannonPopkin.com.

Here's part six of a fictional story I wrote called The Two Doors and the Merciful Judge. It's an allegory that serves as a companion to Kinda Judgy: Finding Mercy for Myself and Others in Six Stories of the Bible—my new book releasing with Moody Publishers!! (Order your copy here.)

Through the imaginative setting of the Grand Courtroom of the World, revisit the same six Bible stories featured in the book—Noah, Rahab, Jonah, the sinful woman, the blind man, and the criminal on the cross—and encounter the same unchanging Judge of All. 

My hope is that this allegory will help you see more clearly—and love more deeply—the Judge who holds the Final Gavel.

Order Kinda Judgy

Replay the Girls' Night Celebration!

How Judgy Are You? (Take the Quiz)

Watch the series on Youtube

More from the Judgy Series on Live Like It's True. 

Learn more at ShannonPopkin.com.